


The Problem With A Smile

by bookowl2000



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Friendship, I don’t know how to draw so don’t take that seriously, Insecurity, Let’s Complicate Things, Light Angst, The More That’s On Mercedes’ Mind the More Distracted She Gets, mutual pining IF YOU SQUINT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:07:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27675794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookowl2000/pseuds/bookowl2000
Summary: What was supposed to be a quiet afternoon with Annette leads to Mercedes having to reckon with what she feels towards Sylvain.
Relationships: Sylvain Jose Gautier/Mercedes von Martritz
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	The Problem With A Smile

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired to write this after seeing this tea party quote Mercedes says: “I’m actually quite skilled at drawing. I wouldn’t mind using you as a model!”
> 
> I actually started writing this for the Sylcedes week prompt “Smile,” but never finished it till now. I had fun experimenting with a new headcanon. Hope you all enjoy!

Mercedes was sketching, but she was hardly paying attention to the shape the lines were forming. It was a rare moment of respite in the grueling war, as Mercedes tended to be too busy to rest with one of her hobbies.

It was Annette who had insisted. Mercedes then insisted in return that she wouldn’t take a break unless Annie did so as well. After some bargaining and pleading (from both sides), Mercedes found herself at the gazebo, where the crisp early spring air and sprouting flora helped lull Mercedes into a comfortable rhythm. Annette was seated nearby, humming as she read a novel.

At least, Mercedes thought Annette was reading. So lost in her thoughts as she contemplated how to use the measly rations to bake a cake, she hadn’t noticed Annie peering over her shoulder.

“Wow Mercie! You drew Sylvain so well.” 

Mercedes gently placed a hand on her chest, the only outward sign she was startled. She peered down at her paper and was surprised to see she had indeed drawn her charming friend. She had only thought of curves and sharp angles, not realizing the face she was forming.

Her heart tugged at the expression and her thoughts flashed back to the week before, when they had sat on the docks as Sylvain exuberantly told tales and Mercedes observed how the moonlight reflected off the pond. The smile she had drawn was the same one he flashed at her when she had yawned and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Mercie?” Annette asked.

“Oh, sorry Annie. I get so lost in my head sometimes.”

Annette wrapped her arms around her from behind in a warm hug. Mercedes smiled contentedly, forever grateful for her kind friend.

“I know Mercie. You’ve been doing it more often lately, which is why I wanted you to rest. Even if it’s to draw Sylvain.” Mercedes heard the smirk in her friend’s voice.

“Oh hush,” Mercedes turned to narrow her eyes at Annette, sensing the coming teasing. Her friend was as predictable as the rising and falling of the sun.

“I didn’t say anything.” Annette raised her hands up, eyes wide in deceptive innocence.

“Just like you won’t say anything to Felix?” Mercedes retorted, her tone nonchalant as she asked the one question she knew would distract her best friend.

“I told you, Mercie. I have nothing to say to that villain!” Annette exclaimed, face rapidly reddening.

“Sure, sure,” Mercedes said, a hint of laughter in her reply.

Annette _was_ distracted for a time as she huffed about an infuriating villain who eavesdropped too much. Unfortunately for Mercedes, who had started drawing flowers on a new piece of parchment, Annette seemed to have recovered and scooted her chair closer with an impish grin. 

“I have one critique on your earlier drawing,” she said, her tone too light to be serious. 

“Really?” 

“Yes, yes. You see,” Annette drew out the last word, tilting her chair so far forward Mercedes was sure she’d fall, “Sylvain doesn’t smile like that.”

“What do you mean?” Mercedes asked, her brow furrowed as she pulled out the drawing. His lips were only slightly tugged upward, a sharp contrast to his usual roguish grin. Still, Mercedes saw the earnestness in it all the same. “He does.”

“Oh forgive me, it must be reserved for you then.” Mercedes eyed her friend, who didn’t sound contrite at all. Annette was never subtle.

“I know what you’re getting at, Annie, and I told you it’s not as simple as you think,” she said with a sigh.

“Why not Mercie? I know you like him and he makes you happy. It looks simple to me.”

The dull pain that Mercedes was usually able to ignore ignited. It _wasn’t_ simple. Sylvain’s family expected him to marry a noble woman of good status and wealth. Mercedes’ adoptive father would heartily approve of the match for all the wrong reasons. She was only just starting to find the will to make her own choices, but to go against other’s wishes was a different step altogether to take.

Mercedes wasn’t young nor naïve. She knew loving Sylvain could never be simple and was content with them being friends.

Annette must have sensed her turmoil as she grabbed her hand. “I just want you to be happy.”

The rare dark cloud that seemed to hang over her head receded, and Mercedes smiled. No matter what her future held, she would always have her best friend. “And I you.”

The two continued to chat about happier topics, stuffing themselves with the sweets they brought. Mercedes eventually excused herself, wanting to return her supplies to her dorm before going to pray.

As she walked she tried to remember the various promises she had made. There was a recipe to teach Dedue, clothes to mend for the nearby orphanage, and- and what did she agree to do with Caspar?

She looked up as she wracked her memory and blinked, disoriented as she found herself by the Knights Hall. 

Mercedes groaned, she had gone and done it again. The first rule in making sure she got anywhere on time was not to think too much. The second one, incidentally, was not to think too little. 

With a resigned sigh, she swiftly turned around and found herself crashing into armor. The supplies in her hands fell to the floor and she felt a familiar pair of hands grab her shoulders.

“Whoa there!”

“Sylvain! I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“It’s fine,“ Sylvain stooped down to join her as she gathered the dropped charcoal and books.

He paused, pulling Mercedes’ attention to him, and with horror she realized he was holding her drawing of him.

If only she wasn’t so scatterbrained, she wouldn’t get into such embarrassing scrapes! She braced herself for Sylvain’s inevitable teasing, and hoped her explanation wouldn’t betray the nervous, rapid beating of her heart.

But Sylvain’s words didn’t come, and Mercedes finally lifted her gaze from his hands to see Sylvain was... shocked, redness slowly starting to creep up his neck.

“Oh I like to sketch sometimes. I hope you don’t mind that I used you as a model,” Mercedes explained, holding the books tightly to her chest.

“Oh. that’s fine. It’s just...” he trailed off.

“Just what?”

“I-,” he sighed, and Mercedes’ pulse quickened. “I didn’t know you were so talented at drawing.”

Mercedes hated the flash of disappointment that coursed through her. She knew better, and she didn’t know what exactly she had hoped for him to say in that split second pause he took.

Sylvain took the books from her arms, pulling her out of her thoughts. She weakly protested, but Sylvain continued to walk on cheerfully as he refused to return them to her. Mercedes had no choice but to hurriedly follow.

“Turns out there’s more to you than I know,” he said, back to his teasing tone. For once, Mercedes appreciated how easily Sylvain could maneuver a conversation back to safer grounds. “Guess I’ll have to figure out the rest,” he added with a wink.

“You make me sound mysterious. I’m not so interesting.”

Sylvain stopped in front of her. “I disagree.” 

Something about the way he looked at her was intense, like there was more meaning to his words than he let on. 

Mercedes brushed his words - and the stutter in her heart - aside. “You’ve always been a flatterer,” she said dismissively.

“Are you flattered? I’d consider that a win.”

“So silly little words are a victory now?” 

The usual response from Sylvain would be his own sly retort or a pout. She didn’t expect him to step closer, shifting the books to his side so he could stand near enough that she had to crane her neck up to properly look him in the eyes.

His voice dropped. “Then what would work? What would make your heart beat faster and consume your thoughts?”

Mercedes’ breath caught in her throat. She never expected him to use these moves on her. Nor did she expect herself to respond to it, feeling still that there was sincerity behind his smoldering gaze. 

How could she tell him that her mind was already consumed with the thought that there was something there between them; a delicate, fragile bud that needed to be nurtured to blossom into a tangible future?

Yet Mercedes understood that that dream was never meant to bloom easily. Not with the harsh winds of disapproval, the crushing weight of expectations, and the wilting, dry pain that would never fade away. 

Sylvain would remain intent on charming girls he cared not a whit about while she ignored her treacherous heart as she aimed to assist anyone in need. 

And so she brushed him aside, telling him Manuela had cures for arrhythmic hearts and draughts to soothe the mind if he was so concerned with the matter.

If Sylvain hadn’t been guiding the way with his light chatter and easy manner, she surely would have gotten lost in her path a second time. Her thoughts drifted once again as Mercedes convinced herself she didn’t want or need more, that she was content with the friendship they had. She was grateful Sylvain trusted her with his pain and understood hers. Grateful for all the times he pulled her into his crazy shenanigans, ignoring her eye-roll as he swung her into a dance or took her to town. Grateful for their quiet moments together.

Mercedes was able to stand by her conviction as they walked, chuckling softly at Sylvain’s stories. She was able to ignore the tug at her heart at her door as she took her belongings back from Sylvain. It didn’t matter that he lingered, leaning against her doorway as he asked where she was heading to next.

The problem Mercedes hadn’t considered was that convictions were easily swayed and crumbled under the right force. 

“I‘ll join you,” he answered after she informed him she was going to the Chapel. Which she knew he didn’t frequent. She looked at him, then, and saw the same slight smile that she drew earlier directed her way.

Mercedes hadn’t had a chance from the start. Not with this man who insisted his heart was shriveled but to her seemed to be overflowing with the compassion he could share when his crafted exterior melted away.

What conviction could she have other than that she loved the man whose features had softened and eyes were filled with sincerity and kindness?

**Author's Note:**

> Ya know, this was supposed to be sweet fluff but then my brain went places and I came back to this over a month later and the ending changed lol. Hope you all enjoyed it regardless!


End file.
